1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical equipment, and more particularly to an adapter assembly suitable for mounting a video camera and a digital camera, to a surgical microscope.
Medical and research microscopes frequently include a port to allow attachment of a video system, a still image camera (such as a digital SLR camera), or the like. In order to permit the attachment of more than one camera to a single optical port, dual camera adapters are also available.
While functional, such conventional video adapters generally possess lenses which provide only a single focal length for the video camera or other cameras attached to such adapters. Additionally, existing adapters are not typically suitable for use with off-the-shelf digital cameras and do not allow full use of the zoom feature of such a digital camera. Furthermore, many such adapters are capable of being mounted only on a particular brand of microscope. Thus, a hospital or laboratory must possess numerous specific adapters in order to handle the various combinations of video cameras, cameras, and brand of microscope employed.
Of particular concern is the desire to provide different relative magnification for the video camera and the digital camera. With present equipment, such a change in relative magnification may require that the entire video adapter be removed and replaced with a second video adapter in order to provide for the focal lengths for each camera.
For these reasons, it would desirable to provide a universal adapter that allows for simultaneous imaging with a standard digital camera and video camera using a single port, ideally leaving the remaining optical port available for auxiliary use. It would be preferable for such a universal adapter to be capable of receiving a variety of different video cameras and off-the-shelf commercially available digital cameras for use on different brands of microscope beam splitters. Such universal adapter systems should further provide for a wide range of different focal length magnifications for both the attached video camera and the attached digital camera. It would also be desirable to provide an adapter that allows for simultaneous adjustment of focus and magnification during simultaneous digital and video imaging, while also allowing focus and/or magnification adjustment of the imaging devices independent from one another.
2. Description of the Background Art
Adapters for simultaneously mounting a video camera and a 35-mm camera on one side of a surgical microscope beam splitter are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,272,161 and 4,143,938. Such adapters are commercially available from Carl Zeiss, Inc., and manufactured by Urban Engineering Co., Burbank, Calif. Beam Splitters having integral video cameras are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,805,027 and 4,344,667. A beam splitter having three identical optical trains and four viewing stations is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,907. Automatic iris control systems for use with surgical microscope adapters are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,820,882 and 4,300,167. A zoom lens adapter for an endoscopic camera is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,448.